Diplomatic heroes are box-office kings

On a sultry summer night in late July 2018, scriptwriter Qin Haiyan walked into her studio in eastern Beijing, which shares a floor with the company of renowned director Lu Yang. In the hours that followed, she was utterly captivated by a former Chinese diplomat's recollection of his years working in Arabic-speaking countries.

When the conversation turned to how he took risks to ensure the large-scale evacuation of Chinese nationals stranded in a conflict area, director Lu, who was passing by, was also hooked, and joined Qin to listen to the diplomat's tale.

The night, which has been etched on Qin's mind, was the spark of inspiration for an unexpectedly successful movie project.

Recently, Home Coming, a 137-minute film shaped from the original interview, has soared to the top of China's box office, grossing more than 1.2 billion yuan ($167.4 million) since its opening on Sept 30.

An award-winning scriptwriter, known for blockbusters such as Lost, Found, Qin tells China Daily that the movie was the brainchild of two producers, Wan Juan from Zhejiang Huace Film and TV Co, as well as Zhang Ning at Beijing Ziyou Kujing Film Co.

Between 2016 and 2018, the pair had entrusted Qin to create a movie script about professional interpreters. So, they reached out to the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs staffer hoping that he could provide some consultancy.

Unexpectedly, she heard a lot of interesting stories about the staffer's personal life. One of the most impressive moments was when he was assigned to handle an urgent mission in North Africa on short notice, despite the fact that his wife was pregnant.

With little time to pack for the flight, he just carried a small bag. However, the internationally tense situation quickly turned more complex, resulting in an extension of the scheduled trip. "He recalls feeling regret that he had not listened to his wife's suggestion to carry thicker clothes when he had to put on a bulletproof vest to keep warm," says Qin.

Graduating with an Arabic major, the man — who prefers not to be named — also recalled to Qin and Lu how he had endured loneliness over years, missing his family in Beijing and conquering the harsh local living conditions to fulfill his responsibility. There were so few entertainment options available to him that he spent his spare time playing soccer with local children.

"But what touched me most was that he's just as ordinary as most of us. As a father and a husband, he feels like he owes a debt to his wife and child for not being around," says Qin.

Based on the interview, and a lot of research from news reports and nonfiction books, the scriptwriter, who graduated from Peking University, wrote the tale, which attracted Guo Fan, best known for directing China's highest-grossing sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth, on board as the project's executive producer.

Under the direction of Rao Xiaozhi, who was invited by Guo to helm the movie, Home Coming follows two Chinese diplomats who risk their lives to rescue hundreds of stranded Chinese when a civil war erupts in a fictional North African country.

In the movie, actor Zhang Yi plays Zong Dawei, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in navigating complex situations overseas. Although he initially plans to return home to take care of his pregnant wife, who is near her due date, the protagonist chooses to stay, despite the danger, when his colleague is killed by a stray bullet, making him the only Chinese official who can speak Arabic fluently.

With the assistance of Cheng Lang, a 25-year-old novice from the Foreign Ministry, Zong convinces a stubborn border official to allow Chinese nationals, who have lost their passports in the turmoil, to cross the border. What follows is an even more challenging and dangerous mission, in which the pair leads a total of 125 of their countrymen and women — including the widow of Zong's deceased colleague — across a vast desert controlled by a ruthless gang of rebels, all while cut off from contact with the Chinese embassy.

Following a lot of preparation, varying from revising the script over 20 times to spending four months on constructing a full-scale "African town" in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, the movie, featuring hundreds of foreign actors, was shot in around three months, with most of its indoor scenes filmed on several soundstages in Qingdao, Shandong province.

As a female writer, Qin also attempts to add a soft and emotional layer to the tale, which embodies ordinary people's yearning for peace amid the chaos and turbulence in the war-torn country.

Thinking of The Arabian Nights, the collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, Qin says she has read the core message about "stopping slaughter "from the literary masterpiece, thus inspiring scenes in the movie that feature a young girl repeatedly reciting Sinbad the Sailor's voyages, symbolizing the stranded people's strong wish to safely return home.

During an earlier interview, director Rao said the movie helped him and fellow crew members to delve into the lesser-known difficulties and complexities of safely evacuating Chinese nationals from a danger zone.

"Most of the time we see Chinese diplomats, they're dressed in decent suits, being talkative and suave. However, they will be frightened or vulnerable when facing such dangers or difficulties," says Rao, adding that it is why these unsung heroes who escorted their compatriots home, unarmed and forced to think on their feet in trying conditions, are worth respecting.

Currently, the movie has obtained 7.4 points out of 10 on the popular review aggregator Douban, which, according to some critics, indicates a rising popularity of patriotic blockbusters in recent years.

The movie will also be released overseas from Oct 21, with the first markets set to include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to the producers.